Heritage Bank tops the list of best-rated banks in Nigeria

It would take a brave person to discount the power of social media in Nigeria.

From Facebook to Twitter and Instagram, these platforms have the power to make or break rich or poor alike.

A finely tuned Instagram account with lots of followers could take you from sitting at a beach in a bikini to being paid to sit at beach in a particular designer’s bikini.

The same goes for just about any product on the planet — if you’ve got plenty of ‘reach’ then you can use that social media capital to make money.

However the potential for mayhem on social media is very real and a bad tweet or compromising picture could send your career down the drain.

There can be no doubt that social media is very much a commercial media and that’s why businesses are focused on collecting some of that social media gold.

Nigerian banks have been quick to realise the social media phenomenon and many of them they use social media to engage with current customers and lure potential customers over to the ‘good’ side.

It shouldn’t surprise you to find out that banks spend a lot of money creating well-polished social media accounts.

But for banks to really cash in on social media they need to have some of that social media currency and similar to the girl snapping pictures of herself at a beach, you don’t have to be the hottest girl or best bank to reap the rewards.

What you need is mostly real followers and if there is some kind of rating system, like Uber, you need to score well.

Based on research we have created a list of the banks with the highest rating and most followers on Facebook. Heritage Bank, led by MD Ifie Sekibo, topped the list.

Best rated banks

1. Heritage Bank (4.4)
2. Unity Bank; and, Suntrust (4.3)
3. Sterling Bank (4.2)
4. First Bank; Zenith Bank; and, Mainstreet Bank (4.1)
5. Stanbic Bank; and, Fidelity Bank (4)
6. Access Bank; and, United Bank for Africa (3.9)
7. Guaranty Trust Bank (3.8)
8. Skye Bank (3.7)
9. Enterprise Bank (3.6)

* Banks without a rating were not included

Banks with the best following

1. Guaranty Trust Bank (5.4 million)
2. Zenith Bank (2.6 million)
3. Access Bank (1.9 million)
4. United Bank for Africa (1.5 million)
5. First Bank (1.05 million)
6. First City Monument Bank (1.049 million)
7. Fidelity Bank (767, 887)
8. Diamond Bank (701,580)
9. Union Bank of Nigeria (554, 305)
10. Sterling Bank (532,922)
11. Stanbic Bank (454,903)
12. Skye Bank (263,850)
13. Standard Chartered Bank (195,676)
14. Heritage Bank (182,394)
15. Key Stone Bank (152,119)
16. Wema Bank (126, 283)
17. Unity Bank (64,738)
18. Ecobank Nigeria (24,147)
19. Enterprise Bank (4332)
20. Mainstreet Bank (2840)
21. Suntrust (1031)

*Rankings are subject to change